I met Chef Yu King Lai, the head honcho of all the Jumbo Kingdom Kitchens who jet sets and stays a few days in Hong Kong, a few days in Macao, likewise in Manila and all the other floating restaurants the company owns. Having started humbly as kitchen helper at 18 Chef Yu rose through the ranks as master chef and is still one genuine and very friendly culinarian. His style of dishes are quite light as he is a health buff though he sometimes forgets this when he is in Manila savoring long simmered bulalo and indulging in lechon. He is at present going around the Jumbo chain teaching his innovations and interpretations of modern Chinese cuisine. Of course, it is always the Hong Kong Chefs that are looked up to because of the dynamism of what is reflective of its economy as a whole. Chef Yu’s innovations at Jumbo include swallow bird’s nest with eggwhite, stiffed winter melon with scallop shrimp garoupa eat topped with eggwhite and crab roe; prawn ball with Japanese wasabi.

Jumbo Palace Master Chef Yu King Lai

Our dinner started with a truly Hong Kong feel having been seated on the large lauriat table and being served some pu-er tea. A rather large lobster was decorated with its meat served with seasonal fruits such as crisp Taiwan melon papaya and mango for texture and light acidity in bringing out the fresh lobster cubes. I was not disappointed at the wine I had brought starting off with a Prahova Muscat 2000. This was lightly dry, with very light acidity and lots of lanzones and lychees on the palate. It had enough structure to stand up to the rich mayonnaise as well as pair off with the robust lobster meat and tropical fruit.

The wine went even better with steamed seafood stuffed with winter melon and a snow custard of eggwhite typical of chawan mushi. The texture of the winter melon that had absorbed the light tasty sauce based on the superior stock which absolute heaven. Amateur palates may see a dish as plain with a clear sauce mistaking this to be a "tasteless" dish. The superior stock that make this clear sauce was long simmered and that is where flavor becomes a determinant for a dish that does not have any dark or colored and heavy sauce.

The next course was a double boiled soup with chunk of wintermelon chicken, ham, dried scallops, shell meat pack with flavor as it is "double boiled" or simmered then reduced to concentrate the tasty dimensions of a stock. There is nothing like the tasty elegance of a clear and intense soup that seems to reach in and satisfy the soul. The presentation made it even more appetizing by the individual silver stilted bowls here the soup was served.

Next was a scalded beef Szechwan style (which was not really in Chef Yu’s repertoire but was really my choice after reading this menu). When the cover was opened the aroma of beef and heady fermented chili paste wafted through the table. Lots of aromatic black pepper with the crunchy texture of mushrooms that came from the woodears and some spongy texture that came of the sliced Chinese mushroom. This was truly fiery and nose-spearing. By this time fruity garnacha red wine with no oaking that seemed to lift the onslaught of ginger, sesame oil, chili, and black pepper.

The wine seemed to be a seductive pair to the Peking duck served with its skin and pink sliver of breasts with Hoisin sauce panocha and leeks. On the second phase of the duck, I had opted for the traditional chopped duck meat with vegetable to be wrapped in lettuce. Great texture with the spongy prawn morsels steaming…

Upon having a good fill on the duck dishes some wonderfully textured fried prawn balls covered with crunchy strands of rootcrops was dipped in a hot mustard mayonnaise.

Capping the savory dishes, a rather clever combination of sliced whelk meat in broccoli contrasted to the delicate pillows of scallop meat. What is interesting about the whelk are the great myriad of texture one gets especially when they are a little more mature. Each part of the de shelled

Whelk has its own texture from spongy, chewy to crunchy.

Not having any more room dinner, ended with a beautifully carved dragon show platter with fruits and custard tartlets with more hot pu-er tea for digestion. I’ve heard so many mixed reviews about Jumbo Kingdom but if these are the type of dishes Chef Yu is introducing they are truly worth a try or even a second look. Chef Yu’s dinner is truly one sublime dinner executed by a true Cantonese master.